Taxi Driver Online :: View topic - cabbie would be humiliated by english tests

A 70-year-old taxi driver who has driven a cab for 17 years said he would be "humiliated" to take a test to prove he can understand English.

South Kesteven District Council in Lincolnshire introduced a rule in May meaning drivers have to prove their language skills when renewing their licences.

Councils regularly have tests for new taxi drivers, but South Kesteven said to be safe and fair the requirement would apply to all applications.

Mr Drake, from Grantham, said it was unnecessary and - if required - the council should pay the additional £46.50 charge for someone sitting the test.

"I’m 70 years old and I’d be really humiliated to be made to take an English language test," said Mr Drake.

"If I can provide a school certificate from 50-odd years ago or whatever, then I won’t have to do the test. But I never even collected them from school.

"I agree, any new driver should take these tests. But every single established driver has to go into the offices for their badge so the council know us.

"It’s creating extra work and stress."

Barry Drake's badge which shows his licence to operate as a taxi driver.

photo on bbc website but shows details which should not be posted on the internet !

Existing drivers need to prove their English skills when they renew their licence

South Kesteven District Council said there had been an online consultation on the new rules before they were introduced.

A spokesperson said to make taxis and private hire cars "safe, efficient and effective", it was important to ensure drivers had a good understanding of the English language.

The authority said it could accept "evidence of a qualification studied in English". This does not incur any fee.

They added: "If the driver does not have evidence of a qualification studied in English then they are required to pass an English Language Skills test. The cost of this one-off test is £46.50.

"From 2021, this test was introduced only for new drivers. Subsequently, in May 2024, in the interests of equality and safety, the council agreed to apply it to all drivers."

Mr Drake said he was making a written complaint to the council’s licensing department.

Author:	edders23 [ Tue Oct 22, 2024 8:44 am ]
Post subject:	cabbie would be humiliated by english tests
from BBCnews website although elderly cabbie is grotsville based https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjr3ernl5y7o Image of him stood behind the st peters hill rank with the letter Quote: A 70-year-old taxi driver who has driven a cab for 17 years said he would be "humiliated" to take a test to prove he can understand English. South Kesteven District Council in Lincolnshire introduced a rule in May meaning drivers have to prove their language skills when renewing their licences. Councils regularly have tests for new taxi drivers, but South Kesteven said to be safe and fair the requirement would apply to all applications. Mr Drake, from Grantham, said it was unnecessary and - if required - the council should pay the additional £46.50 charge for someone sitting the test. "I’m 70 years old and I’d be really humiliated to be made to take an English language test," said Mr Drake. "If I can provide a school certificate from 50-odd years ago or whatever, then I won’t have to do the test. But I never even collected them from school. "I agree, any new driver should take these tests. But every single established driver has to go into the offices for their badge so the council know us. "It’s creating extra work and stress." Barry Drake's badge which shows his licence to operate as a taxi driver. photo on bbc website but shows details which should not be posted on the internet ! Existing drivers need to prove their English skills when they renew their licence South Kesteven District Council said there had been an online consultation on the new rules before they were introduced. A spokesperson said to make taxis and private hire cars "safe, efficient and effective", it was important to ensure drivers had a good understanding of the English language. The authority said it could accept "evidence of a qualification studied in English". This does not incur any fee. They added: "If the driver does not have evidence of a qualification studied in English then they are required to pass an English Language Skills test. The cost of this one-off test is £46.50. "From 2021, this test was introduced only for new drivers. Subsequently, in May 2024, in the interests of equality and safety, the council agreed to apply it to all drivers." Mr Drake said he was making a written complaint to the council’s licensing department.

Author:	grandad [ Tue Oct 22, 2024 8:54 am ]
Post subject:	Re: cabbie would be humiliated by english tests
I wonder how many people still have their GCE, CSE,GCSE etc. certificates. I know i still have mine but I don't know exactly where I have put them. After school I went to college for another 5 years as part of my engineering apprenticeship and got loads of City and Guilds certificates as well. Now throughout my working life whenever I went for a job I would take all my certificates with me and I was never asked to produce them EVER. At I interview I actually insisted that the interviewer looked at them so he gave them a cursery glance. and that was it. Now it would seem that I may, at last, have to produe them.

Author:	jimbo [ Tue Oct 22, 2024 9:36 am ]
Post subject:	Re: cabbie would be humiliated by english tests
I suppose if you were asked to show your competence in the English language you could always tell them to F*ck off.

Author:	edders23 [ Tue Oct 22, 2024 9:41 am ]
Post subject:	Re: cabbie would be humiliated by english tests
it's basically a scam by the council to make money. In the past you were deemed competent in english if you were born here

Author:	Sussex [ Tue Oct 22, 2024 7:43 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: cabbie would be humiliated by english tests
Two ways of looking at this. One is that of the driver, and it is an insult to someone who has been in the trade for a while. Two is that some drivers might fail and that will lead to a bigger slice of the trade's cake.

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Author:	StuartW [ Thu Oct 24, 2024 11:34 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: cabbie would be humiliated by english tests
Not sure if the driver's appearance on GB News helped or hindered his case So host Patrick Christys was wittering on about 'black cab drivers', but later said it was actually about 'private taxi' drivers - I'd guess someone had corrected him, but obviously it went from bad to worse - presumably the driver is simply a saloon HC driver Anyway, when Christys made the fairly obvious point (obvious to most of us, at least) that the measure was presumably intended to deal with an influx of, er, drivers with poor English, the driver said that he didn't know about that, because he only worked Fridays and Saturdays, and muttered something about his pension So whether he genuinely didn't know, or was just not wanting to sound xenophobic, or whatever, I don't know But I'd guess the latter - even if he's only working a couple of days a week, if he doesn't have a rough idea of the, er, demographic nature of the local trade then his head is obviously up in the clouds. Or whatever. But I'd guess it's the same as here in Fife - the several press reports and the likes about local 'issues' kind of allude to, er, socio-religous issues and the like, but you have to read between the lines to work it all out Same with the social media stuff here - dogwhistles aplenty. One recent post about overcharging referred to 'our Dundonian friends'. But that was actually an allusion to a cohort who are anything but what we'd traditionally refer to as Dundonians Anwyay, this is the video at the appropriate point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg8-Q-J1zSs&t=3095s

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